1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fishing reels of the type having a body maintained in operative position between two cover parts and, more particularly, to a structure for releasably connecting the reel body to one of the cover parts to prevent the reel body from inadvertently falling out upon separation of the reel cover parts, one from the other.
2. Background Art
It is known to construct fishing reels with joinable cover parts which cooperatively maintain a reel body, on which at least part of the operating mechanism for the reel is mounted, captively in an operative position. In an exemplary spin cast arrangement, a rear cover defines a receptacle for the reel body. With the reel body in place in the rear cover receptacle, the front cover attaches to the rear cover and captively maintains the reel body in place.
Reels constructed in the above manner have several advantages. First of all, manufacturing and assembly of the reel are facilitated, as is maintenance of the reel. To gain access to the operating mechanism for the reel, the user need only remove the front cover and separate the reel body from the rear cover to work on the same. The front cover is responsible for holding and releasing the reel body.
Exemplary prior art spin cast structures are shown
in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,041,002; 3,416,746; and 3,900,167, all to Hull. Each of these reels employs a screw to hold front and rear reel covers together and at the same time maintain a reel body therewithin in operative position. Removal of the screw(s) allows the reel cover parts and reel body to be separated from each other.
The one drawback with the above-type construction is that the reel body may inadvertently fall out of the reel upon separation of the cover parts. While this is not a particularly troublesome problem on land, when one effects repairs on a lake, the reel body may be dropped into the water and lost.
At the same time, during assembly, one must keep the reel body in proper orientation in the receptacle on the rear cover before assembling the front cover. This may require tipping the rear cover upwardly so that the reel body nests in its proper orientation before the front cover is attached.